JSC SUCCESS STORIES

April 17, 2019 --- From the Joint Service Committee (JSC) Chair Rob Caldwell

A Korean War Army Veteran of the assault on Heartbreaker Ridge during the Korean
War was awarded a 100% disability rating for his post-traumatic stress disorder
with nearly $50,000 in retroactive benefits.

A
94-year-old WWII Veteran of both Iwo Jima, Oklahoma and the bikini Island
radiation testing was awarded a 50% service-connected award with nearly $20,000
in retroactive benefits.

A Marine Corps peacetime veteran was awarded a
100% service-connected disability rating for unemployability with over $650,000
in retroactive benefits.

In
a few more days, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit case of
Procopio v. Wilkie becomes final. This Court case involves the
geographical limits of the Agent Orange Act of 1991.

The
Court found that the VA’s interpretation of the "One Foot Rule” (requiring Vietnam Veterans, seeking compensation for Agent Orange related
disabilities, to set one foot ashore on the mainland or brown water of Vietnam
to be eligible for compensation for disabilities listed on the Agent Orange
Presumptive list) was erroneous and that the VA was required, by the Act, to extend
a presumption of service-connection to all Vietnam Veterans that served within
the territorial limits of the former Republic of Vietnam and were diagnosed
with any of the 16 or more enumerated disabilities on the "Agent Orange
Presumptive List.”

The
result of this Court decision is that between 60,000 to 90,000 "Blue Water
Vietnam Veterans” are now eligible for compensation and medical benefits for
disabilities due to exposure to Agent Orange within the territorial waters of
Vietnam.

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Veterans helping veterans: A committee of vets reaches
out

August 11, 2018

Attorney, VFW Post 3348 member and the Service Officer
for Wilcox Post 234 (American Legion), Rob Caldwell volunteers with the Joint Service Committee (JSC)
for veterans, many of whom are from South Snohomish County.

"A lot of
vets come in here to get help navigating the maze involved with dealing with
the VA (Veterans Administration), or to find out what’s wrong with their lives.
We try to help,” said Caldwell, who is also a member of the JSC.

The JSC meets on Tues & Wed at the Fleet Reserve in MLT. Caldwell and other volunteers
from the Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Vietnam Veterans of America
have banded together into a group that works in concert to benefit vets.

Just last
year, Caldwell and his fellow volunteers assisted
292 vets. The largest number of their clients came from South Snohomish County
(MLT, Lynnwood, Edmonds and Bothell). They also get clients from North King
County around Shoreline.

They are attracting younger veteran clients from Edmonds Community College via their Veterans Resource Center. They also assist
vets from all over the country and internationally, its reputation spreading
mostly by word of mouth.

The issues
these vets face vary widely. They often come in struggling, looking for
compensation from the VA to get compensation for their injuries. They can have
injuries more profound than can been discerned by seeing a purple heart medal.

90% of the
committee’s work is with people suffering the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD). Per Caldwell "We try to do a few things:

·Give
them camaraderie so they know they’re not alone

·Get
them into the VA’s PTSD center

·Help
them with the claim process, which can be complicated

·If
needed, appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims”

The JSC has had much success with the court and the VA, winning hundreds of thousands of dollars and other
benefits for veterans; e.g. an appeal they just won for a Vietnam
veteran resulted in an award of $3,100 per month for life, $90,000 in retroactive
benefits since 2015 and full health and dental care from the VA Medical Center.

"We also
have a healing circle that meets; we get a bunch of veterans together to talk
about how difficult life can be. They all have a story. That story, built
up over time, is part of the problem” Caldwell said.

Caldwell
has credentials. "I was a paratrooper in Vietnam. We got our asses kicked a lot. It
was all so hard to understand that I had to tell a story, one that didn’t cost
me emotionally. But that builds a brick wall,” he said. "We want to help vets
get honest with themselves and see how their behavior today is directly linked
to being in war. They can lose that B.S. wall and start to understand
themselves.”

To honor
these vets, the healing circle gives out a PTSD medal. "And that’s because they
need to know this is an honorable thing,” said Caldwell. "You have PTSD because
you were there. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You earned it.”

Their approach
doesn’t only apply to vets who saw combat. Just being near a war zone can leave
a mark."There are a lot of tears. I
understand. I was a 20-year-old paratrooper in some nasty country. There were
nights when I bargained with myself: ‘Let me see daylight and I will do
something to make up for all of this.’”So, Caldwell
became a lawyer. "In my first case to go to the VA Appeals court, I won. I
found that I liked lifting someone’s life up.”

He and
other veterans decided that there is more strength in numbers, so they formed the JSC with
about two-dozen veterans volunteering on behalf of their fellow veterans. It is a lot of work —
especially the bureaucratic paperwork — he wouldn’t have it any other way.
"When you can put money in their pocket it’s a good feeling,” he said. "For me,
practicing law stimulates my brain. Helping vets enhances my life” Caldwell
said.